Effects of Ad Libitum Ultra-Processed Diet on Brain Dopamine in Humans
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT07920952. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
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Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Background: Dopamine is a chemical that the brain makes when a person expects a reward. Researchers want to learn more about how eating different types of food affects dopamine levels in the brain. Objective: To test how eating different foods affects dopamine levels in the brains of healthy people. Eligibility: Healthy people aged 18 to 45 years old. Design: Participants will be divided into 2 groups (cohorts). Both will have overnight stays in the clinic. All participants will be screened. They will talk to a dietitian about their eating habits. They will have a test of how much energy their body uses: They will lie on a table with a clear hood over their heads to measure the gases as they breathe. During the 3 weeks before participants stay at the clinic, a dietitian will call at 3 random times to ask what they ate the day before. They will complete questionnaires. Cohort 1 will wear a device to track their step count for at least 7 days; these participants will be given food to eat for 2 days before they stay in the clinic. Cohort 1 will stay in the clinic for 14 days. They will eat as much or as little as they would like on 2 different diets for 5 days each and a normal diet on the other days. They will have blood collected multiple times. They will have 2 d ifferent types of imaging scans. For 1 type, they will receive a drug through a vein to show how much dopamine is in their brains. Cohort 2 will stay in the clinic for 2 days. They will eat only the foods provided. They will have imaging scans before and after drinking a milkshake. For both scans, they will receive a drug through a vein to show how much dopamine is in their brains. They will have blood collected multiple times.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT07920952
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 140 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Interventions
- [11C] raclopride Drug
- liquid nutritive stimulus Other
- Tasteless Oral Stimulus Solution Other
- Minimally Processed Diet Other
- Ultra Processed Diet Other
- Baseline Diet Other
Drug · Other
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years to 45 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Nov 12, 2026 (Estimated)
- Primary completion
- Nov 10, 2030 (Estimated)
- Completion
- Nov 10, 2030 (Estimated)
- Last update posted
- Nov 9, 2026
2026 – 2030
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Institutes of Health Clinical Center | Bethesda | Maryland | 20892 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT07920952, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Nov 9, 2026 · Synced Nov 9, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete public registry record, listed eligibility criteria, and available contact information for NCT07920952 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.